RICHMOND – Governor Terry McAuliffe announced that Virginia’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate decreased 0.1 percentage point in January to 4.1 percent, the lowest rate since July 2008. Virginia’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate remains below the national rate, which fell 0.1 percentage point in January to 4.9 percent.

In January, Virginia’s over-the-year employment growth of 2.3 percent surpassed the national growth rate of 1.9 percent. Job growth in the Commonwealth continued to exceed the national growth rate, as it has for the previous three months.

Virginia had the lowest seasonally adjusted unemployment rate among the Southeast states and had the fourth best rate among the states east of the Mississippi.

The average weekly wage for private employers was $919.77 in January, which is 3.4 percent above a year ago.

“We continue to make substantial advances as we work to build a new Virginia economy,” said Governor McAuliffe. “The investments we mapped out in our two-year budget and capital bond package will provide new assets for strengthening our economic infrastructure, creating jobs and encouraging growth among our existing businesses. We will continue to make effective use of our resources, and I look forward to another active year of economic development and gains in international trade.”

“The Commonwealth’s economy continues to improve with private sector job growth,” said Secretary of Commerce and Trade Maurice Jones. “This is wonderful news for Virginians, and we still have many opportunities to ensure we see growth across all regions.”

From January 2015 to January 2016, Virginia’s seasonally adjusted total nonfarm employment was up 86,100 jobs. This is based on the most recent final figure for January 2016. Over-the-year employment growth has been positive for the past 22 months, and with the benchmark revisions, employment growth was stronger in 2015 than initially reported. Over-the-year January job gains were recorded by both the private sector, which grew by 85,500 jobs, and the public sector, which grew by 600 jobs. Compared to a year ago, on a seasonally adjusted basis, eight of the 11 major industry divisions experienced employment gains.